Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh Transferred to Hospital Following Prison Hunger Strike
Nasrin Sotoudeh, Iran’s human rights lawyer, has been hospitalized following a hunger strike in prison.
According to the Associated Press report, Reza Khandan, Ms. Sotoudeh’s husband, announced on Saturday, September 29, that she has been transferred from Evin Prison to a hospital in northern Tehran.
Reza Khandan said that medical specialists decided to hospitalize Nasrin Sotoudeh due to cardiac and respiratory problems and low blood pressure.
According to Voice of America, this human rights defender and imprisoned lawyer began a hunger strike on Tuesday, August 21, after all her correspondence with prison officials, the prison organization, and judicial officials regarding prisoners’ rights, living conditions in prisons, in-person visits, prisoner furloughs, and the issuance of lengthy prison sentences for political prisoners had gone unanswered over the preceding weeks and months.
Robert Menendez, a senior member of the U.S. Democrats, announced on Thursday, September 20, on Twitter that Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian human rights defender, should never have been imprisoned in the first place. He further wrote in his Twitter message that Iran must immediately and unconditionally release Nasrin Sotoudeh and end her hunger strike before her condition becomes worse.
Previously, the U.S. State Department’s Office of Women’s Affairs also expressed support and deep concern about Nasrin Sotoudeh’s health and called on the Iranian regime to release this imprisoned human rights lawyer and all political prisoners who have been unlawfully detained.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been sentenced to 33 years in prison by the Islamic Republic on charges such as “assembly and conspiracy against national security, spreading falsehoods and disturbing public opinion” for defending political prisoners, began her hunger strike on August 21 of this year in protest of the Islamic Republic’s mistreatment of prisoners and its failure to respect their rights.
This is not the first time Ms. Sotoudeh has gone on a hunger strike. On Monday, March 16, she was among political prisoners who launched a hunger strike in response to the prevention of political prisoners’ release amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Voice of America
